Rating: 
Summary: Thought provoking, but not well focused
Review: I enjoyed this book because it was very engaging. But In the end, this book is simply a very radical view on the subject of 911. Chomsky spends too much time criticizing events unrelated to 911 and the middle east (like Nicaragua). It seems to me that Chomsky just used 911 to try and show people the evils of the U.S. While it is quite true the U.S isn't innocent (no nation-state is), Chomsky should have stuck to the issue at hand. He often goes off on tangents that are irrelevant. That being said, I would still recommend reading this book because it makes the reader think and construct arguments to bolster or debunk Chomsky's claims
Rating: 
Summary: Necessary rebuttal
Review: Mr. Chomsky is certainly a controversial figure. In this reader's mind, he is not to be sought after for an objective analysis of events. However, he raises points that need to be discussed, in an intelligent matter, and keeps the voice of dissent above a whisper.Repeatedly, Mr. Chomsky asserts that the attacks on the WTC were completely unjustified and abhorrent. Not once does he seek to justify the position of the terrorist attackers. What he does do, however, is reach back into history to reveal the past ties between the United States and Bin Laden. These ties, which are now well-documented, refer to the funding provided to the extremists in Afghanistan during the Russian occupation. Chomsky also examines the consequences of the war launched on Afghanistan in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. He argues that it will be a destructive and shortsighted war, one which, in pursuit of despotic leaders, will significantly damage the welfare of the general population. This analysis proved to be right, but it is up to the reader to determine if the trade-off was worth it. So, in closing, Mr. Chomsky has written another intriguing, necessary rebuttal against the administration's war aims. It's a quick read, and is recommended to those who are longtime Chomsky readers or opponents of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Rating: 
Summary: Concise and correct, as always
Review: The man is always spot-on. I've found this book to be an excellent primer for initiates to American imperial politics. Short, direct and easy to read... they always come back wanting more. A fine purchase for the first-time Noam reader.
Rating: 
Summary: Still waiting for a balanced, thoughful look at 9-11....
Review: Noam Chomsky may be a world class linguist, but that doesn't make him any more qualified to address the aftermath of 9-11 than, say, the world's leading dog trainer or the world's best plumber. That's not to say that his ideas and thoughts aren't valid or interesting, it's to say they are, in actually, no more informed than anyone else's and just as subject to personal predilections and prejudices as anyone else's, just like the plumbers or dog trainers would be. Chomsky's predilections and prejudices are decidedly anti-American. He believes that the US is a leading terrorist state. His view of 9-11 events is thoroughly and pervasively colored and influenced by that world view. It's not that he doesn't raise good questions-he does. It's that his conclusions are based not so much on objective fact or thoughtful consideration of the situation as they are the inevitable logical extension of his radical political orientation and beliefs. Chomsky asks: Did America's policies and behavior create the coditions that gave rise to 9-11? Chomsky's answer: America is solely responsible. In what way? Chomsky's response: In every way! America is evil, evil evil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In part, no doubt America's policies and behavior did help create the events of 9-11. Hoiwever, I don't buy into the "America-love it or leave it!" mentality, but neither do I buy into the "America is evil incarnate" mentality. Unfortunately, it seems that all 9-11 material to date originates solely from one of the above enumerated points of view. What's really needed is a thorough, thoughtful, objective, historically and politically researched and-most of all--balanced analysis. This isn't even close on any of those counts.
Rating:
Summary: CHOMSKY AT HIS BEST
Review: Vintage Chomsky who in this book has the courage and honesty of analyzing and rigorously documenting WHY so many people in the world particularly in the Middle East legitimately hate and resent not Americans, who are generally decent and wonderful people, but a flawed and biased US foreign policy conditioned and corrupted by a powerful and dominating pro-Israel lobby that continues to distort history and facts hollywood style, whereby the victim is the aggressor and vice versa . This american policy repeatedly and strongly denounced, but rarely reported in the mainstream media , by numerous Americans who are academics, church people, writers, politicians, former diplomats and military officers has consistently and blindly supported Israel's state terror and apartheid policies against Palestinians in the occupied territories and aggression against its neighbours, particularly Lebanon all this in blatant violation of various UN and Security Council resolutions and in spite of condemnations by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and European organizations etc....
Rating:
Summary: Chomsky deals in facts; No government spin
Review: This book may be small, but it contains a lot of information. Information we all know to be true and factual but which we somehow have been told to ignore by the enormous U.S. media/propaganda machine. What Chomsky is saying in a number of different interviews with radio stations in different countries and through correspondence, is that the U.S. is the single worst terrorist state in the world today. The only state to be found guilty of it by the World Court. He is able to back this up with irrefutable facts, i.e. Nicaragua, Indochina, Angola, and Kosovo among others.
A very disturbing example of this is the U.S. bombing of the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Sudan. A little footnote of U.S. terror, quickly forgotten here but well remembered in the Middle East and Africa. The subsequent deaths this caused by lack of medication is well into 6 figures.
There is also documentation that the CIA was offered a large file on bin Laden's operatives by Algeria but were rebuffed.
The fact that the U.S. also sponsored bin Laden and his ilk in the Afghan war with the Soviets starting in 1979 is also known, but quickly forgotten. At that time bin Laden was considered a friend of the U.S. and a "Freedom Fighter".
For anyone who wants a factual background as to why this attack occurred on Sept. 11 this book fills the bill.
Chomsky, as always breaks through the rhetoric, propaganda, and spin.
I will read this book several times.
Rating:
Summary: Contradictions lead to new insights
Review: I've read some of the critiques of Chomsky here and whilst not an unreserved fan of his work, I do think he asks some very interesting questions about aspects of American foreign policy that are rarely asked. For some, this makes him a threat since his questions and the evidence he produces often do not sit well with their personal worldview or unexamined opinion of America and its behaviour on the world stage. That he does make people angry goes to show that he is saying something worthwhile, in my opinion. While this book suffers from being a rush production and not entirely coherent in its presentation, you've got ask yourself that if America is so publically concerned with democracy and uses that as a justification to continue the embargo against Cuba, then why does it not do the same with Saudi Arabia - perhaps the least democratic nation on the planet?? I don't condone the killing that occured on 9 11 but to explain in ways that excuse America from having any part to play in the dynamics that created that incident does much to dishonour those who died that day.
Rating:
Summary: Provocative and fascinating but also uneven and repetitive
Review: This may sound like a bizarre statement to make about a book that runs slightly over a hundred pages in length, but the main problem with Noam Chomsky's 9-11 is that it is too long. Because this slender volume is a compilation of interviews that Chomsky gave shortly after 9-11-2001 with various North American and European media outlets, it has the unfortunate flaw of being repetitive. As a result, many of his points are made, to the reader, over and over, and then, over again. Furthermore, some of the interviews provide no new information, and appear to have been included primarily for padding in an attempt to lengthen the book slightly. Nonetheless, the book is otherwise utterly fascinating. Chomsky is a polarizing writer. Few people are going to be lukewarm about his ideas. Either you will, like me, find them fascinating, provocative, and dead-on, or you will be horrified, outraged, and defensive. But even someone who does not care for Chomsky will inescapably be impressed with his breadth of knowledge of foreign affairs and the local political situation throughout the world. For someone who is primarily known for his pioneering work in linguistics, Chomsky possesses a stunning knowledge of, apparently, every corner of the globe. I, for one, stand in awe of how much knowledge he has been able to assimilate in his two fields of endeavor. In a way, this book is an extended footnote to his book THE FATEFUL TRIANGLE, about the political situation in the Middle East. While Chomsky thoroughly condemns terrorism in every form (including state terrorism, which he views the United States, Israel, and many European nations as engaged in), he feels it is crucial for Westerners to understand the real reasons that many Muslims in the Middle East do not like the United States. These reasons, he repeatedly points out in these interviews, have nothing to do with a supposed hatred of the material success of the US, or the expansion of globalism, or modernity. Rather, their anger is over very specific complaints about the suppression of Palestinians by Israel, US military presence in Saudi Arabia, European and American intrusion into the political life of Islamic nations, and similar causes. The part of the book that many readers will feel less comfortable with are those parts where he equates many US actions overseas with state terrorism. I personally found these parts of the book both very depressing and very compellingly discussed. But even if one disagrees with Chomsky's assessments, it is important even for his critics to realize that many of those who hate us in other parts of the world view the US in ways similar to the picture that Chomsky draws of US foreign involvement.
Rating:
Summary: A good book with important issues
Review: I believe to read this book requires an open mind from people, but I also believe this book should be taken with a grain of salt, as should everything. Really what I feel the book does best is tells us how the US is truly arrogant in many of its actions. Chomsky states plenty of examples that I believe would be difficult to argue with, and thats where this books real importance is. Chomsky tells of the many atrocities committed by the United States and how the rest of the world reacts to this. Several times he talks on how we act and asks what the reaction would be if other nations did the same. The example of Nicaragua is given, and how we deliberately broke international law, with almost contempt for anyone that should even think we could be wrong in our actions and total confusion for anyone thinking Nicaragua should be able to have the audacity to *defend* themselves from our attack. Also, this book helped me to see a connection with Orwell's "1984" where (for those of you who dont know) a state tells its people it is at war with one state and friends with another and it has always been this way...then they turn around and say they have never been friends with that state and have always been on the side of the other state. None of the people in the book ever stop and think otherwise. I find this similar to our support of what became the Taliban, which is now our enemy, but none seems to notice or remember we actually started this "government" and they were an ally at one point. Chomsky takes up this issue several times, along with our support for Saddam Hussein (never mentioning anything Orwellian, that was just me). The only reason I did not give it 5 stars is that I feel that it was thrown together too quickly, certain parts are repeated unnecessarily, the book is fairly short, and really I would also have liked Chomsky to wait awhile to observe events taking place well after 9-11 to elaborate on, particularly after Bush declared war on the world and signed the "Patriot Act." But I guess we will have to wait.
Rating:
Summary: Best book in recent memory
Review: Chomsky throws down the facts in this book like vegtable soup. And it's very easy to digest too. In 9-11 the reader gets a delicacy of unique perspective, often ignorned by mainstream medias and authors. Chomsky's answers all the who, what, when, where, how, and most importantly why of the tragedy! He gives compelling reasons which are backed up by substantial factual details on the reasons of why 9/11 happened without justifying the sheer horror of it. We in America, when we turn on the news are often bombarded with unquestioning, flag-waving media outlets, ex. FoxNews Channel, CNN, etc. And Chomsky's analysis of 9/11 is a welcome change to that gross media-machines, who always hold that America #1 view!
|
